Part lit mag, part artist book, part chapbook, MANIFEST (zine) is the eclectic creation of writer / poet / artist Jen Payne. Consider it a hold-in-your-hands art installation featuring writing, photography, and artwork, along with bits and pieces of whatnot that rise to the surface as she meditates on themes like change and transition, solitude, time, storytelling, and finding refuge in these turbulent times. Each issue also includes a curated Spotify playlist. Layered with colors, textures, meanings (and music), the result is a thought-full, tactile journey with nooks and crannies for you to discover along the way.

MANIFEST (zine) was one of 23 artist projects selected by SomethingProjects.net as part of their CT statewide art treasure hunt called THE EXCHANGE, supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and Connecticut Office of the Arts. It was featured in the 25th anniversary issue of Broken Pencil magazine and currently finds a home in these national zine libraries: Trenton Library Zine Library (NJ), Cleveland Heights Public Library (OH), as well as in the Zineopolis collection in the UK, and at the James Blackstone Memorial Library (CT).

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET 4 ISSUES FOR JUST $25
Or order individual copies below.

Get your just desserts and appear
in the next issue of MANIFEST (zine).


Issue #11, GREAT & SMALL
As we move among the creatures of this planet — every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth — one can’t help but think of some greater force at work. Whether you call it God, Nature, or the Universe, come walk with me, meet some of my divine friends, and let’s see if John Muir was right when he wrote “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”  (Read More)(Color, 28-page 5×7 booklet, $8)

Issue #10, THE LOLA POEMS
“I have lived with several Zen masters — all of them cats,” writes Eckhart Tolle in his book The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment. The Lola Poems is a limited edition, memorial issue of MANIFEST (zine) that honors the passing of my own little Zen master, Lola, by considering the lessons she taught me in our time together.  (Read More)(Color, 24-page 5×7 booklet, $8)

Issue #9, HEROICALLY FOUND
Quoting from a variety of spiritual and creative sources, HEROICALLY FOUND posits that the way to find equilibrium in these challenging times is through mindful presence — a meditation that opens our hearts and minds to art, to poetry, and to unexpected blessings. For writer Jen Payne, those blessings often include creativity, inspiration, and beautiful rays of insight revealed during my walking meditations in the woods and along the shore.  Come along and see what you can find! Includes a curated Spotify playlist. (Read More)(Color, 24-page 5×7 booklet, $8)

Issue #8, ENDEMIC
MANIFEST (zine): ENDEMIC is a response to the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, the proceeds from which will be donated to Sandy Hook Promise. Includes a curated collaborative Spotify playlist. (Read More)(Color, 12-page 5×7 booklet, $8)

Issue #7, WATER
Inspired by the release of Water Under the Bridge: A Sort-of Love Story by Jen Payne, this 7th issue of MANIFEST (zine) is a collaborative effort featuring work by friends and fellow creative spirits Tara Buckley, Joy Bush, Jimine Camille, Anne Coffey, Juliana Harris, Rhonda Longo, Nancy Fitz-Hugh Meneely, Kristin Merrill, Mary O’Connor, and Laurel Valli. Includes a full color, 24-page booklet, inserts, and a curated collaborative Spotify playlist. (Read More)(Color, 24-page 5×7 booklet + inserts, $8)


Issue #6, LEXICON ZOOM
Zoom in…we are so myopic, aren’t we? What we see, how we interpret it, what we allow to be our singular understanding of something that can and usually does have different meanings for different people. Zoom out…we are all the same and all a part of each other. “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe,” wrote John Muir. With that in mind, please come explore LEXICON ZOOM. (Read More)(Color, 32-page 7 x 5 booklet + inserts, $8)


Issue #5, REFUGE
This  special “quarantine zine” features the words and images and thoughts within which we found REFUGE last year. The literal and figurative reflections, the comforting quotes and laugh-out-loud memes that kept us breathing all those long months, and helped us regain our sea legs when it seemed like the worst was behind us. (Read More) (Color, 36-page 5.5 x 8.5 booklet + inserts, $8) 


Issue #4, CRICKETS
Storytelling is in our DNA says Brené Brown in her book Rising Strong. We share our stories because “we feel most alive when we’re connecting with others and being brave with our stories.” So we write. And we tell our stories. No matter who listens or responds. Crickets be damned (Read More) (Color, 24-page 4.25 x 5.5 booklet, $8) 

• Read the BROKEN PENCIL review.


Issue #3, IT’S ABOUT TIME
Einstein said time is an illusion, that time and space are merely “modes by which we think.” But, if you think too hard on that you end up down rabbit holes and worm holes. Want to come along? (Read More) (Color, 28-page 7.5 x 5.5 booklet, $8)


Issue #2, CAT LADY CONFESSIONS
Explores the oft-maligned life of the cat lady: crazy or contemplative? recluse or dancing to the beat of her own drum? You decide. Includes a curated Spotify playlist. (Read More) (Color, 24-page 5.5 x 8.5 booklet, $8)


Issue #1, DIVINE INTERVENTION (retired)
DIVINE INTERVENTION was the first issue of Manifest (zine), published in July 2020. It asked the reader to consider the catalysts and consequences of Change: What are the forces that move us? Change us? Propel us with such acceleration that we hardly recognize ourselves? (Read More) (It was printed in full color on an 11×17 and folded.  This issue was retired June 2022.


You can pay through PayPal using a PayPal account or any standard credit card. If you prefer the old school approach, please send your check, made payable to Jen Payne, P.O. Box 453, Branford, CT 06405.


WHAT IS A ZINE?
To start, a zine — pronounced zeen — is a small circulation, self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via photocopier. It has no defined shape or size, and may contain anything from poetry, prose, and essays, to comics, art, or photography.

A zine is a multi-purposed publication form that has deep roots in political, punk, feminist, artistic, and other subculture communities. Original zinesters are rumored to include Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Margaret Fuller. Now…


WHAT IS MANIFEST (zine) ?

Let’s consider…

MANIFEST (noun) : a list of contents

MANIFEST (verb) : to make a record of; to set down in permanent form

MANIFEST (adjective) : easily understood or recognized by the mind

Then see also MANIFESTO (noun) : a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer;

and see also, especially, MANIFESTING (noun) : the creative process of aligning with the energy of the Universe to co-create an experience that elevates your spirit and the spirit of the world;

at which point, you might begin to understand… Manifest (zine) !


JEN PAYNE is no stranger to the zine phenomenon. Her first zine —The Latest News — came out in the early 1990s during the golden age of Factsheet Five and Mike Gunderloy. Back in the day, The Latest News was included in the Boise State University exhibit Some Zines: American Alternative & Underground Magazines, Newsletters & APAs (curated by Tom Trusky), and featured in several books including Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture and The World of Zines: A Guide to the Independent Magazine Revolution.

Since those early days writing The Latest News, Jen has enjoyed putting her writing out into the world through the online lit/art journal Creative Soup, her blog Random Acts of Writing (www.randomactsofwriting.net), and as part of art installations, literary magazines, and anthologies. Her most recent effort, Three Chairs Publishing, is a vehicle for her four published books and other creative projects, like Manifest (zine).


SEE ALSO:

  1. What is a Zine?
  2. Wikipedia: Zine
  3. Factsheet Five
  4. New York State Library, The Factsheet Five Collection
  5. Some Zines: American Alternative & Underground Magazines, Newsletters & APAs, Tom Trusky
  6. Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture, Henry Jenkins III, Jane Shattuc, Tara McPherson, Duke University Press Books, 2003.
  7. Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture, Stephen Duncombe, Verso, 1997.
  8. The World of Zines: A Guide to the Independent Magazine Revolution, Mike Gunderloy and Cari Goldberg Janice, Penguin Books, 1992.
  9. Want to know more? Check out a Zinefest near you!

SUBSCRIBE NOW AND GET 4 ISSUES FOR JUST $20
Or order individual copies above.


You can pay through PayPal using a PayPal account or any standard credit card. If you prefer the old school approach, please send your check, made payable to Jen Payne, P.O. Box 453, Branford, CT 06405.

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